Kodney eice



R'o/DNEY RICE,4 0F PITTSFIELD, vERMoNrfAssIGNORTO HIMSELF AND J', H.

' SPAULDING.

LetterePatent No. 78,762, dated June 9, 1868,

turacvsnsur'm Witsen AND citaniaesnsrs.

, T0 ALL WHOM I T MAY CONCERN:

a part, of this specification, Yin which-Y Be it known that I, RODNEY RICE, of Pittsfield, county of Rutland, andA State ofVeruiont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriage end Wagon-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the running-gear of a carriage or wagon, with Athe coupling broken away in part, to show .the arrangeuient of the brake-levers, and l Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same, taken inline x fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference denote corresponding partsin both iigures.

yMyv invention consists ina novel arrangement of brake-levers', and devices for opera-ting' the same, whereby thedriver is enabled readily and conveniently to operate the brakes with his foot whileoccupying his seat the vehicle, as hereinafter described. i

Tcenable others to apply and use my invention, I will proceed to describe thel saine with reference to the drawings. f p

v A A represent the wheels, B B the axles, C the springs, aild D the bottom frame of thebody ofthe wagon or carriage, all of which parts may be o f any desired construction and arrangementor combined in any usual or desired manner. I

E is a coupling-frame, consisting of three longitudin'albars, framed together at their rear ends and to the reara-Xle B', and connected at their forward ends by a. transverse' bar, E', through which the frame is coupled or bolted to the forward axle in the usual manner.

F F1 are brake-levers, pivoted to the outer coupling-frame bars, as shown at e, and provided at their outer ends with brakes, F2, arranged in front of and adaptedA to.-operateupon the rear wheels. Said brake-levers are provided at their' inner ends with interlocking hooks, f, or other suitable slidingjoint or connection, which allows them to vibrate upon their` independent pivots, while' at the same time it so unites them as to cause them to act together, andapply the brakes simultaneouslyV to both wheels. An angle, plateor loop, Gr, attached to the central coupling-frame bar, serves to guide and steady the inner endtof the levers, and to regulate the extent of their throw. I

`One of the levers, F1, has connected to it the rear end of a link, a, the forward end of which is connected to the lower end of a short upright lever, b, pivoted centrally to the central coupling-frame bar. The upper end of lever b is'in turn connected'by al link, al, to the lower end ofa second upright lever, b', pivoted in the bottom frame, D, of the carriage or wagon-body, near the forward end. Lever b extends up through the floor or bottom of the carriage-body, andjs connected by a link, a2, tothe forward end of a treadle, c, the rear end of said treadle being pivoted to the floor of the earriageor wagon in the manner represented in fig.. 2.

al' is a stirrup, pivoted to the treadle c at or near its joint with link a, and is designed to be located in convenient position to be occupied by the foot of the driver on hi's seat. h i v The operation will beireadly understood. The driver, when he wishes to apply the brakes, presses with his foot upon the treadle c, with any required force, when the descent of the treadle from its inclined position represented in the drawing, fig. 2, serves to thrust oi-press forward the upper end of lever Z1, and by the arrangement of links and levers described, the inner ends of the brake-levarsi? F1 are drawn forward, forcing the brakes into contact with the wheels, as desired. A spring, of any desired form or clonstruction,'may be arranged within the loop G, in front of the inner end of the brake-levers, for the purpose of retracting the levers, and releasing the brakes, when the pressure of the foot of the driver is withdrawn. l

Havingnow described my invention, what I clain1,'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

il. The treadle c, leverslb b, and links a al, in combination with the brake-levers FFl, arranged and oper-` ating substantially as described. v

2. The brake-levers F F1, provided .at thcir'inner ends with interlocking hooks, f, working in the loop G,

substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The independently-hinged brakerlevers F F1, connected centrally by a sliding or hook-joint, and operated bymeans of levers and connecting-links, arranged substantiallyfas described.

RODNEY Rien.

Witnesses ALBERT Voss, HENRY A. Voss. 

